I have been making my own laundry detergent for over a year now and have saved some big $$$$. It is easy, smells wonderful, and this stuff really works wonderfully. And I don't have to use softner anymore either!

There are many versions of the laundry gel on the web. Most have common ingredients:

Here is my recipe:
1 bar Fels Naptha grated or 2 bars homemade soap grated( I make my own soap so I use homemade)
1 cup Borax (found in laundry aisle at the market)
1 cup sodium carbonate (***not bicarbonate***)(this can be found at the pool supply section, called ph plus)
1 cup white vinegar
2-3 tblsp fragrance oil of choice ( I like lavender, or lemongrass, or nag champ)
hot water - enough to fill 2 1/2 gallon container
put all ingredents into a 2 1/2 gallon cannister(got mine at Wally world) and add very hot tap water until almost full. Use your braun hand blender( yeah, the one in the cubbard you never use) and blend all ingredients until blennded well. It is usable at this point, but as it sits and cures, it becomes a gel. Once it cools you may have to skim a "cream" from the top to clarify it. I reuse this cream to do a load of laundry or dishes. It takes 1 1/2 to 1 cup per large load. I have used it on all my laundry with no adversity. It costs me an average of 75cents per gallon to make. The vinegar keeps the clothes very soft. Hope ya'll enjoy this as much as i have!!

Hey, whipping this up sounds like fun! If I didn't have a front-loader I've give it a try. One thing I wonder about - have you noticed any color bleeding? I know that a lot of the detergents now contain something that claims to keep clothes looking new longer, or something like that.

------“Some luck lies in not getting what you thought you wanted but getting what you have, which once you have got it you may be smart enough to see is what you would have wanted had you known.”
~Garrison Keillor~

Ooh, thank you! DH2B is allergic to the fragrance in most commercial detergents so this looks worth trying out. It's not a bad allergy (just slight itching) and he may have outgrown it by now ... but I think he'd rather not find out, just in case. :)

------Kit
"Never underestimate the power of the right dress!" - drsue
"Hyu gots to know how to sveet tok de costumers, dollink" - Girl Genius, 11-24-08

I saponify oils and lye in my crock pot to make soap. Real kitchen chemistry! But it is not hard once you learn how.
I think you can use this gel in the front loaders, just put the gel in the tub first, then the clothes, then cycle it through.

This gel does not suds like detergent because there is no detergent in it. The first few times you wash your clothes, the wash water will be very dingy. This is the detergent residue coming out of your clothes! Using Biz is optional, and can be omitted for those with allergies. All Biz is , is an optical brightner and stain remover safe for all clothes. I use it instead of bleach. My recipe only uses 1 cup for 2 1/2 gallons which is not alot per load.

I recomend to just make a small batch and try it! Depnding on the water quality in your area, it may turn to gel in 1 day, or it may take several days. It may seperate slightly too. Just wisk it a round a bit then scoop at 1 to 1 1/2 cups per lg load.

The frugal living recipe works too. And they recomend using a 5 gallon container. I prefered the smaller container do to lack of space.

This is so interesting. I have most of the ingredients mentioned and was planning to make my own soap from Fels naptha, etc.

The reasons: Partly because my granddaughters have severe skin allergies/dry skin when they visit us at Christmas (from humid Tokyo). Partly because I have less severe dry skin problems myself. Partly because I'm basically cheap. And partly 'cause it sounds like fun to brew up a batch.

Due to time constraints, haven't got to it though. With Christmas around the corner and grandkids soon to arrive, maybe this is the spur I needed.

What great timing for this thread! I just used up the rest of my homemade detergent & couldn't find the recipe again. Yours is slightly different. I like the idea of putting in oil for a light fragrance.

Thank you for this topic and the recipe. I think I will try this. It is getting harder and harder to find powdered laundry soaps and the optical brighteners in liquids seem to streak some fabrics over time despite my following the directions perfectly. I am highly sensitive to perfumes and use ALL-Free and Dreft, with Downy-Free.

Lately I've been using Orvus paste again for my dark colors. I don't think it has any optical brighteners since it is a livestock shampoo and it does rinse out very nicely when I bathe the family dog. Your recipe may work better, since it cuts oils, etc.

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